giant vs cold storage vs NTUC fair price v mustafa

[ching]

On a (somewhat) related note -- which Fairprice do you find has the widest selection?

I've been to the two-story store in Toa Payoh a few times. Thought it would have much more than the regular Fairprice but other than the baking goods section and one aisle of organic / expat stuff, it seems pretty much the same.

[sundaymorningstaple]

The newest one at Ang Mo Kio @ AMK Hub is probably the largest with the widest variety.

The one out at Upper Bukit Timah however, it geared more to "western" expat types and carries a lot more western imports. However, I've not been to that store myself so cannot vouch for just what is out there. Also, the one at Hougang Festival Market is also pretty good. I'm extremely familiar there! Also the Fairprice at Thompson Plaza tends to carry more western fare for there is a decent sized expat community around the upper Thompson Road area (They also have a pretty large meat department as well). There is a small one at Serangoon Gardens that I often make a side trip to as their cuts of Australian Beef are thicker, catering to the western expats penchant for not ruining steaks like Asians who tend to overcook beef (by western standards) until it becomes leather (not meant as a slur - just a fact).

[snowqueen]

I shop at Cold Storage and I'm not a snob by any stretch. I used to do most of my shopping at Giant but the queues started to drive me mad.

I generally buy more than 10 items at a time but no more than a basket load as I have to lug the stuff home so I have to stand in the trolley queue behind several people who have their trolleys stacked high and the lovely checkout person is slowly scanning and packing their shopping - 3 items per bag.

We are not posh Brits on stupidly high ex-pat salary packages but I have come the the point now where I would rather pay and extra $5 a week on my shopping at Cold Storage to avoid standing in a queue for half an hour.

Reading this back to myself if does sound bad. I'm not lazy, just a very busy new mum.

[Strong Eagle]

I shop at Cold Storage and I'm not a snob by any stretch. I used to do most of my shopping at Giant but the queues started to drive me mad.

I generally buy more than 10 items at a time but no more than a basket load as I have to lug the stuff home so I have to stand in the trolley queue behind several people who have their trolleys stacked high and the lovely checkout person is slowly scanning and packing their shopping - 3 items per bag.

We are not posh Brits on stupidly high ex-pat salary packages but I have come the the point now where I would rather pay and extra $5 a week on my shopping at Cold Storage to avoid standing in a queue for half an hour.

Reading this back to myself if does sound bad. I'm not lazy, just a very busy new mum.

Nah... I have to agree with you about Giant... I just don't go there anymore because of the queues. Fairprice is somewhat better... and every once in a while will open a 10 items or less lane... which of course is immediately filled with people who have 11 items or more.

[Thaiclan]

The last time I was at Giant I had a very full shopping cart. Slowly it was all scanned through. I paid the toal (around $400 so you can see a LOT of stuff), and then the cashier told me to wait a moment as she needed the manager. I had my 4 month old strapped in her baby bjorn so she was already fidgety at this point. The manager came over and said there was a computer error and they needed to scan EVERYTHING all over again! I demanded a refund as told them I would go down to Cold Storage instead!

[jpatokal]

The Cold Storage at Great World City has opened up a couple of self-service checkout machines -- quite a bit faster than queueing up, especially at peak periods, and rather more fun too. Wonder if we'll see these anywhere else?

The other thing that annoys me is that, at the cheaper supermarkets, you need to line up to get your fruit/veggies weighed. In Europe, weighing machines where you punch in the code and it spits out the price are quite common, and the aforementioned Cold Storage has one of these too. Quite user-unfriendly though, you need to scan through microscopic listings or punch in 6-digit numbers instead of just whacking the button with a picture of broccoli or whatnot...